Let me hold you
by purplepagoda
Summary: This is set post paternity. Some spoilers possible. Love conquers all. It can never come at the wrong time.


It was late. Not really late, but it had been a long day and she was tired. It was dark and she was just barely sleeping in her bed. As if an answer to a prayer her phone starts to ring. She picks it up without taking a single look at the caller I.D.

"Hello?" she answers.

"Let me hold you," the voice on the other end tells her.

"What?"

"Let me hold you," he repeats.

"Why?"

"Just let me,"

"But it's eleven thirty and..."

"Please," he implores her.

"Ok?"

She hears a door in her apartment open.

"Is that you?" she asks into the phone.

"You can hang up now," he tells her.

She puts down the phone as a man enters into her bedroom. He sits down on the bed next to her and brushes a stray piece of hair out of her eye. He smiles at her as he slips off his jacket and coat. She smirks back at him.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be..."

He stops her by placing a finger on her lips in a cliche manner. "Don't," he tells her.

"Ok," she agrees.

"I want this. I'm ready for this. And it's ok. We let go,"

"But..."

"Just listen to me,"

"Ok," she agrees.

"It's over. We both agreed that, well it doesn't matter," he tells her.

"Isn't..."

He shakes his head and then looks into her eyes.

"What?" she asks him.

"Just let me do this,"

She nods slightly as he puts his hand on the back of her head. Before she can protest, or make any sort of noise he's kissing her.

The following morning the sun is shining into her eyes through the window. She feels an arm over her, protecting her. She sighs and then opens her eyes hoping that it's not all a dream. She rolls over to look at him.

"Hi," he says softly as he stares into her eyes.

"Hi," she says in a happy voice.

"Did you sleep well?" he asks her.

"Uh huh," she admits.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah,"

"Well it's still early why don't you go back to sleep,"

"Are you leaving?"

"Nope you couldn't pay me to get out of this bed. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay right here with you in my arms. I told you that I wanted to hold you,"

"Ok," she says as she snuggles into his chest. She takes in his smell as she closes her eyes.

As he lays there watching her sleep the lyrics of a song pop into his head.

_Tell me you've had trouble sleeping  
That you toss and turn from side to side  
That it's my face you've been seeing  
In your dreams at night_  
And the truth was she did. She hadn't slept well in at least nine years, well since the day she'd met him. She knew, and he did too subconsciously anyway.

_Tell me that you wake up crying  
And you're not sure exactly why  
Tell me that something is missing  
In your life, in your life baby_  
He knew that she seemed angry lately. She didn't seem angry at just anyone either. She seemed angry at him for some reason he wasn't sure of.

_Tell me that you live for love  
That forever is never enough  
That you've waited all your life to see  
That you want so badly to believe  
Tell me that it's not just me_

And she wanted to believe that there was someone else out there for her, but she just kept coming back to him. She wanted so bad for it not to be him.

_I could have sworn I saw you smile at me  
Standing in the pouring rain  
At a loss for words and running out of time  
I said this crazy thing (crazy thing), I said_

She wouldn't tell him, and he didn't tell her, but he knew, and somehow timing hadn't been on their time. She was afraid that she had really lost her chance.

_Hold me now and tell me that you do believe  
In a soul, a soul mate  
And tell me, and tell me, tell me_

As he laid there with her in his arms he knew. He was sure of what they'd both known all along no matter how hard they tried to fight it. He didn't really believe in fate, but some things are hard to deny.

And he wondered why it had taken them so long. Then he realized that it had been him all along. He hadn't had the epiphany, or the conscious realization until the day before. When he held her in that embrace. He felt right. That was how it was supposed to be. But then she went home. And he knew. He realized that she'd been pretending to be ok with everything for a very long time. He was ready for this. As he stared at her he caught a glimpse of his own hand. There was a white mark on his finger. A shadow of a life that he was miserable in. And now he was free to be with her.

They were soul mates it was obvious. Many had known it for years, but said and done nothing. Even those that didn't know them knew. There was something different about them when they were together. A different feeling, it was a different atmosphere. What was it that they couldn't grasp? What was that concept? Ah, yes completion. That was the word for them. As cliche as it was they completed each other.

They were each other's everything. They could tell when the other was in distress. It was sad but true that they worried more about the other than themselves.

Love, unconditional, love was something truly powerful that neither of them were able to overcome. There was no obstacle that they couldn't over come. At least that's what they thought. But little did they realize that love conquers all. _  
_


End file.
